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The government has taken an interest in the issue. IRS commissioner Mark Everson came to Ohio in February and reminded churches, "We can't afford to have our charitable and religious institutions undermined by politics."

The IRS has contacted the ORP about its political involvement. While legally separate, the ORP and Fairfield Christian overlap significantly. Johnson is the founder/chairman CEO of ORP, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. A "Patriot Pastors" banner hangs in the church's lobby. "We're dialoguing with [the IRS] yet; we're still working through that," Johnson tells CT. He can't say for sure whether the matter will be wrapped up by the November elections. Parsley declines to comment.

The conservative pastors believe they are being persecuted. The Left, Johnson says, wants to "nail us to a cross, beat us bloody red, and say, 'This is what happens to those churches who take a stand.'" And Johnson and Parsley are not the kind of men to be cowed.

Ohio is a national weather vane, a state that shows which direction the political wind is blowing. This year the forecast calls for stormy weather, because this is not just Christians vs. culture. This is Christian vs. Christian.

It's apparent even among the candidates in the Ohio gubernatorial race, where Blackwell's opponent is Democratic Congressman Ted Strickland, an ordained minister with an M.A. from Asbury Theological Seminary and a plaque of Micah 6:8 on the wall of his D.C. office.

Many mainstream evangelicals find themselves caught in the middle, finding that neither side fully represents them.

Michael Moriarty, pastor of Hope Church in Mason, Ohio, can't agree with the theology of many members of We Believe Ohio. But he's even more troubled by the conservatives.

"Christians are called to love people and reflect the heart of Christ," he says. "If we enter the public square using this abrasive, Rambo terminology and these kinds of tactics, we contribute to cultural ills. We become Terminators rather than transforming agents of grace."

The unease with contemporary society that drives this conservative movement comes as no surprise to John Green, a political science professor at the University of Akron. Society is now "really diverse, where no one particular point of view ever prevails," he says. "I often tell my students that on many, many issues, there is no majority, there's just a bunch of minorities going for each other's throats, and it produces a tremendous amount of anxiety."

That anxiety has been channeled into activism in Ohio. It's too early to say whether Johnson and Parsley can "reform" and "restore" the state, but late summer polling showed Strickland beating Blackwell by 20 percentage points.

For Christian conservatives, the current political struggles have an apocalyptic tinge. America's destiny is a door grinding slowly upon the hinges of history, which are "moving on our watch," as the ORP puts it. Scarborough says, "We are closer to victory than we have ever been in my adult lifetime."

But even as conservatives hope for victory, they fear all could go wrong. The "secular jihad" remains strong. A minor pause, a slackening of tension, and the enemy could push back against destiny's door and shove Christians into the darkness.

Talk show host Janet Folger worries about the "criminalization of Christianity" that could result from hate crime laws, while Russell Johnson foresees a time not far off when "we could see ministers taxed or punished or imprisoned for preaching the Bible in America."

It's a fierce vision of the future, but one that works supremely well as a rallying tool. Come Election Day, the results will be on display for the nation to see.

Nate Anderson is a writer living in Wheaton, Illinois.

Copyright © 2006 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Rod Parsley's World Harvest Church site tells about his vision and project.

The Ohio Restoration Project website has information about the Patriot Pastors movement.

We Believe Ohio website also has information.

The New Yorker also covered the movement earlier this year.

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November 2006, Vol. 50, No. 11